The Death Vow
by minervasrevenge
Summary: WIP. Dramione and Lumione. Narcissa's dying wish binds Hermione to the Malfoy family until the day she dies. Or they do.
1. Chapter 1

Narcissa's opponent fell and she paused for a moment to watch the battle – it happened as if in slow motion around her. Her instincts sent her gaze to Draco – he was beside his father. They were swapping curses with Rowle and Mcnair and it made her blood boil. Narcissa broke into a run towards her family. They had been fools not to fight the Dark Lord from the start.

Pain flared in her left leg and Narcissa fell, skidding. She tasted dirt as blackness swallowed her.

Ears ringing, Narcissa blinked her eyes open. Something had woken her. Someone had _tripped_ over her.

"You're alive! Are you alright?"

The girl's voice was high and breathy. Narcissa identified the Muggle-born witch – the friend of Potter's. _Hermione Granger_. Then, her eyes spotted something black moving towards them. She knew that tangle of madness, well.

Surging with fury, Narcissa pulled the girl down, pushing herself up with the same movement. The mad witch running at them lifted her wand.

"No, Bella!" Narcissa yelled, placing herself between her sister and the girl.

But, it was too late.

The curse hit Narcissa's chest and, at first, her senses were overtaken by pain. But the pain stopped and she felt light as a feather. Narcissa floated to the ground.

As if from a great distance, Narcissa heard the girl cast the killing curse. After a moment, she felt herself handled and she was peering up at the girl.

"Mrs. Malfoy! Narcissa! Can you hear me? Are you alive?"

Narcissa's breath came in rattling gasps. She seemed somewhat cognizant. Hermione had run out of dittany long ago but Narcissa was beyond help. Her sister had cast something like the Sectumsempra and Hermione didn't know the countercurse.

"You saved my life," Hermione breathed. "Can I do anything for you?"

The older witch's gaze fixed on her with sudden sharpness. "Protect them... Lucius and Draco..."

"I will," Hermione promised. Narcissa hadn't much longer. Her eyes glazed and blood trickled from her mouth. Hermione would hold the witch until she was gone.

"Vow to me you will protect them," Narcissa gave a shudder and then continued in a barely-audible whisper. "Lucius and Draco… Continue the family. As a wife a-"

If she was capable of crying, Hermione would have. The past two days of fighting had robbed her of tears and she could only squeeze her eyes shut.

"I swear it," Hermione promised, learning over her.

Bellatrix was a lifeless lump a few yards away. Hermione heard no more spells, saw no more flashes. The fighting was, likely, over. Harry had vanquished Voldemort yesterday but many Death Eaters decided to fight to their deaths, taking several students with them.

Gently, Hermione slipped out from under Narcissa Malfoy and made her way towards the castle. Hogwarts crackled with fire in several places and crumbled suddenly in others. Smoke billowed from one of the turrets. Hermione moved cautiously around battle detritus and ignored the bodies. She wasn't ready to face the dead.

In the remains of the Great Hall, Hermione found the survivors gathering. Harry, Ron and the Weasleys, numerous other students, professors, and Aurors. And, yes, Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Hermione considered her promise to Narcissa satisfied. If not unmarred, they were alive. When McGonagall joined the Malfoys, Hermione looked away – they were about to learn of Narcissa's death.

After exchanging significant looks with Harry and Ron, looks that said they had made it out alive but weren't ready to hug, Hermione followed Ginny and Luna to the prefect's bathroom to get cleaned up.

Luna filled the bath while Ginny and Hermione stepped into the showers. The hot water felt like heaven after forty-eight hours of dueling for her life. Hermione took her time under the spray, scrubbing away at grime and discovering spell burns. She finished rinsing the soap from her hair and picked up a nail brush. That was when she discovered the mark around her ring finger. No amount of scouring removed it.

Frowning as she toweled off, Hermione held up her hand to Ginny. "What the hell is this?"

"That would be a wizard's mark," Ginny said, eyes large. She slipped on some clean school robes. "They give it to you when you _become their wife_. Who did that?"

Hermione shook her head as her mind echoed with the word 'wife.' Suddenly, she recalled her exchange with Narcissa. Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach. Narcissa had asked her to watch over Lucius as a wife and Draco as a mother.

The next thing Hermione knew Ginny and Luna were fanning her face.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

Hermione felt hot and weak. "I'm just – no," she said.

"Can you stand? Do you want us to fetch someone?"

"No, no," Hermione replied testily, waving her hand at the other girls for some space. Her gaze locked on the mark on her finger and she felt ill. "I think I'm married to Lucius Malfoy."

After donning clean robes and explaining what she remembered, Ginny and Luna insisted Hermione see Professor Snape; he knew obscure magic and the Malfoys better than anyone else.

Alone, Hermione sought the professor. As she made her way to the dungeons, she noticed families and students moving about the castle, restoring what they could, caring for the wounded, and recovering the bodies of the dead. She still wasn't ready to discover who had been lost.

"Excuse me, Professor. I'd like your help in removing this," Hermione explained when he opened his door.

Snape took her wrist as if reluctant to touch her and peered at the mark.

"Better come in and explain how that happened," he said dryly, holding his door open.

Hermione did not feel comfortable enough in Snape's rooms to sit. It was too dark to see anything properly and the air smelled like rotting flowers. Unsatisfied with Hermione's lack of word-for-word recollection, Snape directed her to extract the memory of Narcissa's dying wish and set it into his Pensieve.

When Snape emerged from the Pensieve, he was shaking. Concerned, Hermione moved towards him.

"Professor," she began. It was with horror she realized that he was laughing. Hermione scowled.

He was laughing; he was _actually_ laughing. It was a strained noise, as if he didn't make it often, and Hermione wondered if he might choke.

After a few minutes of wheezing, the professor fixed Hermione with a glare, "Don't move."

He stuck his head into the corridor and hailed someone. Hermione heard him bark an order to fetch McGonagall and then his black eyes pinned her, once more. He didn't smile but he was, infuriatingly, amused.

Annoyed with Snape's silence, Hermione made herself comfortable in one of the chairs before the fire. She watched the dark professor pour himself a glass of wine, his lips twitching.

"Really, Severus, we have wounded upstairs. What couldn't wait?"

Professor McGonagall spotted Hermione and her tone changed. "Ms. Granger, is everything alright?"

Hermione opened her mouth but before she could reply, Snape's cold voice cut over her.

"Your brilliant protégé has gone and agreed to Narcissa Malfoy's Death Vow. The idiot girl has married herself to Lucius _and_ Draco Malfoy. _And_ she's agreed to carry on the family line."

"What?" Hermione gasped. All of the blood in her body seemed to be pooling in her feet.

"What?" McGonagall repeated, barely audible.

Snape merely sipped his wine and gestured towards the Pensieve.

Mouth dry, immobile with disbelief, Hermione sat rigid as Minerva fell into the Pensieve. She considered joining her but couldn't seem to move.

"How do I stop it?" Hermione asked Snape.

"It cannot be stopped," he replied crisply. "It cannot be undone. You're married to them until the day you die. Or they die."

"I refuse," Hermione whispered, horrified to feel tears in her eyes.

The dark-eyed professor was no longer amused. "It's too late to refuse, Ms. Granger."

McGonagall emerged from the memory quite somber. She stared at the glinting swirls for a few moments before speaking. The fire crackled happily, oblivious to the room's mood.

"Perhaps the Ministry-"

"Tsk, Minerva. You know as well as I that ancient magic – particularly familial magic – is not regulated by the Ministry. They cannot undo a vow."

"What happens if I do nothing? Act as if the vow was not made?" Hermione heard herself ask.

Snape lifted a brow and turned to McGonagall. "I'll leave that explanation to you."

Minerva nodded and gestured to Hermione. "Time for some damage control," she said. "Come along and we'll get this settled."


	2. Chapter 2

It was late - or early, depending upon your point of reference. Hermione was dozing in the Headmistress' office as McGonagall had directed her to wait there until her return.

Without a word, Snape snuck in with a Calming Draught, handed it to Hermione, and slipped out again. After a healthy swallow, Hermione was left with a blissfully blank mind. So, she dozed.

Minerva's return with two chatting witches awoke Hermione. Irma Pince and Poppy Pomfrey ceased their conversation to find a student in the office.

"The Great Hall is full of wounded, Minerva," Poppy muttered, an edge in her voice.

"You said they're stable for the night and this shouldn't take long. Ms. Granger is in immediate need of our assistance."

As McGonagall relayed the details of the Death Vow, Hermione was subjected to shocked, pitying looks and the wall of former Headmaster portraits whispered furiously to one another.

"Irma, perhaps you can provide Ms. Granger with some information about Death Vows," Minerva prompted.

The librarian's eyes gleamed and her mouth went thin. Obviously, she was not keen to share what she knew.

"They are not commonly cast except by older families – like the Blacks. And, even more ancient, is the marriage of a witch to one or more wizards."

"What happens if I do nothing?" Hermione asked.

"An ignored vow attracts death. Should your vow to Narcissa be dishonored, or, in this case, either of the Misters Malfoy perish before you have lived as their wife and borne their children, you will perish, as well." Ms. Pomfrey explained gravely.

"They're grieving right now. Surely, this can wait - at least a month," Hermione exclaimed, desperate to have time to process her situation and, hopefully, escape it. She noted the looks exchanged by the older witches and sank dejectedly back in her chair. They were humoring her!

"Irma, let's leave these two alone for a moment," Minerva suggested, directing Ms. Pince out of the room.

Poppy leaned close to Hermione and spoke in a hushed tone. "You may not care for either of the Misters Malfoy, but it is likely that you will experience physical interest in them… this may diminish after you fulfill the terms of the vow."

Hermione blinked, unable to utter a word in reply. The whole idea was preposterous! _Simply preposterous_!

When McGonagall returned, it was to find Hermione alone and morbidly unhappy. She urged her to finish the rest of the potion Severus had left earlier and shared what more she'd wrestled out of the stubborn librarian.

"Vow magic is akin to the magic of Harry being protected from You-Know-Who by his mother's love when she died for him. Narcissa protected her family by selecting you to care for both her husband and son."

Hermione blinked sleepily as the Headmistress continued.

"It is possible she intended to separate your - _responsibilities_ to them but we shall never know. The vow has taken shape. This isn't the sort of magic that is written about. It is infused with love and cannot be taught or read about and understood."

The last of the Calming Draught paired with Hermione's exhaustion prompted McGonagall to send her to bed. Hermione didn't recall a thing of her trip back to Gryffindor tower.

A rough shake startled Hermione and she wrestled with her bedding for a moment before she heard Ginny's hissing whisper.

"Hermione, wake up!"

"I'm awake," Hermione growled and then yawned. She cringed, feeling every bruise and burn to her bones.

"They're saying some mad things out there. Is it true?"

Hermione fell back onto her bed, remembering the absurd discovery that she was magically married to both Lucius and Draco Malfoy.

"Probably," Hermione muttered darkly.

"You need to get out of here before Harry and Ron find out."

Hermione glanced at Ginny. The redhead was already Summoning Hermione's belongings and filling her trunk.

A second-year appeared in the entryway. "The Headmistress wants Hermione right away," she said, eyes large and goggling at Hermione. "Lucius Malfoy's here."

Cold fear and then hot prickles ran through Hermione at the idea of meeting with the wizard.

"Shit," Ginny muttered. "So much for getting out of here unnoticed."

"It's alright, Gin. Thank you."

Hermione tidied herself and then changed into the comfort of Muggle denims and a fuzzy jumper. She left Ginny in the Common Room to head off Harry and Ron when they appeared – goodness knew what they might do when they heard the rumors. The handful of Gryffindors in the common area watched Hermione pass through as if she were on her way to the gallows.

An image of Lucius Malfoy floated to the forefront of Hermione's mind as she made her way through the castle to the Headmistress' office. He was old enough to be her father but he wasn't unattractive. That didn't make up for the years he spent supporting the eradication of Muggle-born wizards and witches from the earth. In dark humor, she wondered if he would murder her, consequences be damned.

It was a surprise to find the devil alone. He stood staring at the fire and glanced up as Hermione entered. Inexplicable warmth curled in Hermione's stomach. Lucius looked as tired as she felt; he'd been part of the battle. And he'd lost his wife. Likely, prompted by the voluntary sacrifice of her parents' memory of her, Hermione hurt for him.

Lucius gestured a gloved hand towards the chairs and Hermione took the far one, pulling the pillow atop her lap. She stared at the fire, uncertain of what to say. She felt him watching her and grew warmer.

"The Headmistress has made me aware of the situation and, forgive the intrusion, but I've seen your memory."

"I'm so sorry about Narcissa. I wish you'd had time to properly grieve before this reached you," Hermione replied delicately.

Hermione felt her heart beat three times before he replied. She finally met his gaze and, again, felt something warm stir within her.

"Thank you," Lucius said. He looked at his gloved hands, thoughts elsewhere.

The silence was brief, but Hermione sensed he needed a moment.

"I suggest your connection with me be kept secret and you, quite publicly, marry Draco."

Apparently, he'd already put some thought into it. Hermione frowned in thought and her attention moved towards the relative neutrality of the fireplace.

"The media can be vicious and misinterpret ancient spells that might appear scandalous," Lucius added.

"It seems to be all over the school," Hermione replied, hands unconsciously fisting the pillow.

"It will die a rumor. Minerva agreed to assist in this."

Lucius regained Hermione's attention, her curiosity winning over her embarrassment. "Will the vow allow the secrecy?"

"Ceremony means nothing to magic this old. The wedding is for the benefit of Draco and our family. As for what the vow will allow, it matters only how we live."

"Does Draco know?" Hermione asked in a small voice. Draco had openly despised her for the entire duration of their acquaintance.

"I received a positively _gleeful_ owl from Severus. I can only imagine what Draco has heard," Lucius mused, idly rubbing his fingers together.

Hermione noted it was odd he had not yet spoken to his son about the situation; she could only imagine how deep their troubles.

"How do you suggest everything proceed?" Hermione asked, trying not to sound as awkward as she felt.

When Lucius didn't answer, she found him expectantly watching her.

"I've accepted the situation as it is. I do not intend to betray Narcissa, but I intend to look for a way to break the vow without hurting anyone," she explained.

Lucius shrugged as if to say 'so be it.' "I expect your support in speaking to Draco, _Wife_."

Hermione's jaw clenched. "Of course. When?"

Lucius rose from his chair, leaning heavily on the cane Hermione knew to house his wand. His gaze moved speculatively over her and she wondered, precisely, how much he gleaned about her with sight, alone. She was certain there was a visible spell burn on her jaw and dark circles under her eyes.

"Join us at dinner," he said.

"I'd rather like to help mend Hogwarts," she countered.

"Let's discuss it this evening, shall we?"

"Fair enough," Hermione replied. She had no desire to enter a contest of wills with Lucius Malfoy. At least, not yet.

"I'll expect you at Malfoy Manor at six o'clock," Lucius said, leaving the office.

Hermione nodded in reply, clutching the pillow tight. She took a calming breath, inhaling the spicy scent of clove that Lucius left behind and felt anything but relaxed. Despite the stilted conversation, Hermione was too aware that she was attracted to him.

The Headmistress was of the opinion that Hermione should remain hidden until the castle had grown quieter. Amidst her trunk and Crookshanks' cage, Hermione rested on a cot behind a screen in a corner of the Headmistress' office. McGonagall had directed her to get some sleep and Snape had delivered another potion. Luckily, neither professor waited to see that she drank it. Hermione had no inclination to sleep her troubles away; they would still be there when she awoke and she would have made no mental progress towards a resolution.

"You look positively murderous," Hermione heard Snape say in a low tone.

Hermione wondered if Minerva had made a face because Snape spoke again.

"They won't _harm_ the girl. I daresay she'll be set for life."

"That's just it, Severus. It's a waste, losing Hermione to that family. You know the type – they discourage witches from contributing to the world and she has such a bright mind."

Hermione heard the sadness in Minerva's voice and it brought tears to her own eyes. Obviously, they saw no future for Hermione without the Malfoys. Perhaps, her plan to find an escape from the vow was hopeless; that didn't mean she would stop looking.

"I count this as a loss for us," Minerva muttered.

"If you're referring to the Ms. Granger I taught for six years, she will do as she pleases. Particularly once she understands the reach of her new-found influence."

Hermione blinked. That was almost a compliment. And, he was correct; she hadn't yet thought about the status and resources that would be her due as the Malfoy Matriarch. In spite of Hermione's plan to think things through, she fell asleep with Crookshanks purring beside her.

When six o'clock came around, Hermione had snacked and donned her best robes. Having faced Lucius, she was less nervous; but when she thought about seeing Draco, she grew worried. All seven years she'd known him, he'd thoroughly despised her. She couldn't begin to imagine how he would feel about being married to her without his consent.

When Hermione let go of the heavy door knocker, the last thing she expected was Draco to open the door and join her on the front step. Inexplicably, Hermione filled with butterflies as it happened. His eyes were narrowed warily at her.

"Draco," she greeted, hoping he didn't do something drastic.

"Hermione Granger," he said. "Let me see the ring."

"This wasn't my idea," Hermione explained, annoyed but willing to entertain Draco's misgivings. The situation was downright mad, and he had just lost his mother.

Draco took her hand and pleasant warmth shot through Hermione. She glanced up at Draco in surprise to find a similar expression of astonishment on his features. So, she was not alone in feeling something when in proximity to Lucius and Draco. He peered at the black lines circling Hermione's ring finger.

"Two snakes," he muttered, releasing her wrist.

"Is it?" Hermione asked, squinting at the mark. She hadn't given it a close look.

"I didn't believe it, you know," he said, face carefully blank as he watched her.

"Me neither," she said with a tight smile. Hermione placed her hand on Draco's arm. "I'm so sorry about your mother."

Draco held her gaze for a moment, his grey eyes shining with the last light of the setting sun.

"What did she say to you?" he asked, voice a hush.

Hermione swallowed, "She asked me to take care of you and your father."

"By _marrying_ us?" he said wryly.

Hermione shrugged and gently replied, "It's likely she meant to say more."


End file.
